Container



Jam Wm, WTIQ a. ROHFRBACM 3,437,913

CONTAINER Filed April 1., 1968 2 Sheets-Shwet 1 WW 5. ROHRBACH 3,

CONTAINER Filerfi .Mmil 1,, 3.968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent3,487,913 CONTAINER Bernd Rohrbach, Kettenhofweg 80, Frankfurt am Main,Germany Filed Apr. 1, I968, Ser. No. 717,719 Claims priority, aplifiItiOnGGermany, Apr. 3, 1967,

64 Int. Cl. A45c 11/00,-B65d 7/00, 33/16 US. Cl. 206--1 10 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to containers for shipping such objects as,for instance, books, valuable papers, drawing, photographs and the like,which are to be protected against bending, or frangible articles.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a shipping containerwhich is very light and, therefore, saves mailing costs, while at thesame time being shaperetaining so as to protect the object shippedtherein fully.

It is another object of the invention to provide a shipping container ofthis type with closure means which securely seal the same, and which maybe re-used many times.

The above and other objects and advantages are accomplished inaccordance with the invention by making the container of a light andshape-retaining plastic ma terial, the container comprising two sidewalls defining a chamber therebetween and having respective edges alongone end of the side walls defining an opening providing access to thechamber. Rims project outwardly from the lateral edges of the side wallsperpendicularly to the access opening, and a flexible closure bandextends over the opening and the side walls between the rims. Theclosure band has overlapping ends adapted to be attached to each other.

The container is preferably made of a rigid foamed plastic, such aspolystyrene foam. Also, the overlapping ends of the closure band maycarry a pressure-sensitive adhesive for attaching the ends to eachother. It may be found desirable to position the band in relation to theside walls by providing cooperating latch means on one of the containerside walls and on the overlapping closure band ends, such as a notchstar on the side wall and matching cutouts in the closure band ends.

If desired, a cover may be mounted over the opening, which also hasoutwardly projecting lateral rims at its corners, the cover rims beingaligned with the rims on the side walls. Furthermore, additional rimsmay project outwardly from the lateral edges of the side walls and fromthe corners of the cover, if provided, the additional rims extending ina direction perpendicular to the firstnamed rims. An additional flexibleclosure band may then extend over the opening and/or the covertransversely of the first-named band.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING The above and other objects, advantages andfeatures of the present invention will become more apparent in thefollowing detailed description of certain now preferred embodimentsthereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the shipping containeraccording to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment, also showing theclosure band;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section taken perpendicularly to the side wallsof the container of FIG. 3 but including a cover;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modification 0f the embodiment of FIG.3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cover as used in the embodiment ofFIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to that of FIG. 7 but showing a modification ofthat embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawing, wherein likereference numerals designate like parts of like function in all figures,FIGS. 1 and 2 show one embodiment of the shipping container, the closureband being omitted for a clearer showing of the container and beingpositioned in the same manner as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The container 1 of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises two like side walls 3, 3defining a chamber 2 therebetween and having respective edges along oneend of the side walls defining an opening 4 providing access to thechamber 2 through which an object to be shipped may be placed into thecontainer chamber. As best seen in FIG. 2, the two side walls aretapered towards each other and integrally united at their bottom so thatthe chamber 2 forms a pocket, the profile of the container beingwedgeshaped. The lateral ends of the chamber 2 are closed bywedge-shaped end walls which form rims 5 outwardly projecting from thelateral edges of the side walls 3, 3 perpendicularly to the opening 4.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, the container 11 has a rectangularcross section in a plane perpendicular to the opening 4, i.e. the twoside walls 3, 3' are substantially parallel to each other and the rims5' are formed by end walls perpendicular to the side walls, an integralbottom wall (see FIG. 4) closing oif the end of chamber 2' opposite toaccess opening 4. A flexible closure band 6 extends over the opening 4and the side walls 3', 3' between the laterally extending rims 5', therecess between the rims serivng as a secure seat for the glosgre bandand the rims constituting a guide for the To position the band inrelation to the side walls, cooperating latch means 9, 10 are providedon one side wall and on the overlapping ends of the closure band 6 whichare adapted to be attached to each other. The illustrated latch means isconstituted by a notched star 10 on a side wall and cooperatingstar-shaped cut-outs in the overlapping closure band ends. In thispreferred embodiment, the band is positioned about the container byfirst attaching one end of the band to the notched star 10 by itsstar-shaped cut-out 9, lapping the band about the container and thenattaching the cut-out 9 in the other band carry a pressure-sensitiveadhesive so that one end need only be pressed against the other toattach the two ends together and thus to seal the container. Theshipping address may have been written on to band before its attachmentat a point overlying one of the side walls, or a shipping label may beattached to such a point after the closure band has been attached.

The shippingcontainer 1" of FIG. is in all respects similar to that ofFIG. 3, except that it comprises additional rims 5" projecting from thelateral edges of the side walls in a direction perpendicular to the rims5', and an additional flexible closure band 6' extends over the openinggiving access to chamber 2" transversely of the closure band 6 (whichhas not been shown in this FIG. 5 for sake of clarity). The overlappingends of closure band 6' need not be attached together over the openingand, as a matter of fact, will preferably be attached along one of theend walls or along the bottom wall unless a cover 8 is used, as will nowbe described.

FIG. 6 shows a cover 8 which may be placed over the access opening in amanner indicated in FIG. 4. The cover also has lateralrims 8' whichproject outwardly from the corners of the cover and which are alignedwith the rims of the side walls. The closure band or bands then extendover the cover and between the cover rims.

While the side walls of the containers of the abovedescribed embodimentsare fixedly connected to each other so that the container forms anintegral unit, it is also possible, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, toconstitute the two side walls 3", 3" as detached container halves 11 and12. After the object to be shipped is placed into the chamber defined bythe two halves, the two halves are unitized by placing a closure band orbands about the two side walls in the manner shown in FIGS. 3-5.

In the modification shown in FIG. 8, the container half 13 defines arecess therein constituting the chamber for the object, and the othercontainer half 14 constitutes a cover over the recess, the two halvesagain being unitized by a closure band or bands. The two halves arereadily fitted together by providing a mating tongueand-grooveconnection between the two halves.

To reduce shipping costs, the container should be of a very lightmaterial and yet shape-retaining in order to protect the object shippedtherein, such as books, magazines, photographs and the like. A veryuseful material for this purpose is a rigid foamed plastic, such aspolystyrene foam. Such material may be reused frequently, in addition toassuring full protection to the object to be shipped and lowtransportation costs due to its light weight. When used again, it ismerely necessary to replace the closure band.

Of course, the configuration of the container may be changed to anysuitable shape adapted to the size and configuration of the object to beshipped. Also, if desired, the two side walls of the container maydefine top and bottom openings, both of which are closed by a removablecover. Also, any shape-retaining plastic may be used for the shippingcontainer of this invention and this plastic material may be fully rigidor slightly resilient. All of these and other modifications andvariations may occur to those skilled in the art, particularly afterbenefiting from the present teaching, without departing from the scopeof this invention.

I claim:

1. A shipping container for books, magazines, photographs and othersimilar articles which require protection during shipment, saidcontainer being formed from shaperetaining light plastic material suchas polystyrene or the like, and comprising a pair of side walls definingtherebetween an article receiving chamber with an open top, a pair ofend walls connecting together end edges of said sidewalls, said sidewalls beingsubstantially vertically coextensive with said end walls sothat said chamber is completely closed at the sides thereof, said endwalls projecting laterally outwardly beyond the side walls to provideperpendicular rims at the junction of the side walls and end walls, aflexible band extending completely around said side walls and closingthe open top of said chamber, said band being seated between and havingits side edges engaged by said rims, and means for connecting overlappedend portions of said band together.

2. The container as defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting meanscomprise pressure-sensitive adhesive provided on the overlapped endportions of said band.

3. The container as defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting meanscomprise cooperating latch means provided on one of said side walls andon the overlapped end portions of said band.

4. The container as defined in claim 1 together with a cover removablypositioned on the open top of said chamber, and lateral projectionsprovided on said cover in alignment with said rims, said band extendingover said cover between said projections.

5. The container as defined in claim 1 together with a second set ofrims provided on said end walls and projecting outwardly therefrom indirections parallel to said side walls, and a second flexible bandextending completely around said end walls and across the top of saidchamber transversely of the first mentioned band, said second band beingseated between and having its side edges engaged by said second set ofrims.

6. The container as defined in claim 5 together with a cover removablypositioned on the open top of said chamber, and projections provided atcorners of said cover in alignment with said first and second set ofrims, said first and second bands extending over said cover between saidprojections.

7. The shipping container of claim 1 wherein the side walls are fixedlyconnected to each other by said end Walls.

8. The shipping container of claim 1 wherein the two side wallsconstitute two detached container halves.

9. The shipping container of claim 8 wherein one of the container halvesdefines a recess therein constituting said chamber, and the othercontainer half constitutes a cover over said recess.

10. The shipping container of claim 9 further comprising a matingtongue-and-groove connection between the two container halves.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM T. DIXSON, IR., PrimaryExaminer US. 01. X.R. -3; 220-4

